It’s an unfortunate myth that Native American tribes with gaming casinos lack culture. Some critics say that tribes with successful casinos are all about business and not about culture. But we beg to differ.

The culture of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is deep within the souls of every tribal member and rests within our hearts. Over the years, various political and religious groups have tried to take our culture from us. By forbidding us to speak our language, sending Chumash children to boarding schools and forcing us to move away from our traditional native religion, many of our core beliefs were stripped away from us.

The pressure has always existed for us to assimilate and forsake our culture. Despite the many attempts to eradicate our culture, we maintained our connection to our ancestors and to our core identity of being Chumash. We survived because of our strength as a tribe and our spiritual connection to Chumash heritage.

Chumash culture hasn’t been erased over time. Thanks to the revenue from our Chumash Casino Resort, we can now implement cultural enrichment programs that we couldn’t previously afford. We can ensure that our culture remains strong within our tribe and is preserved for our children.

We have many cultural programs available for our Chumash tribal members and their children ranging from basket weaving classes to Chumash language classes. The following are just two examples of the ways in which we instill and preserve our Chumash culture:

Chumash Language Program
Speaking the language of our ancestors has only been a dream…until now. Working with Dr. Richard Appplegate and the tribe’s Education Program Director, Dr. Fred Loveys, we developed a 10-week Chumash Inezeño language class that provided students with the necessary skills to speak Chumash Inezeño, as well as read and write it.

Learning the language directly from our elders would have been the ideal situation. Unfortunately, that isn’t a possibility since the last Chumash elder who spoke the language passed away many years ago. However, Dr. Applegate is an excellent teacher and, most importantly, is a foremost expert on our language.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dr. Applegate spent time working with the Harrington materials while he was a graduate student at UC Berkeley. He wrote his dissertation on the Chumash Inezeño language and it became dear to his heart. With our language program, he put his knowledge to practical use by sharing his expertise with us.

We are now working on a Chumash Inezeno language dictionary, which is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2006.

Check out our language at www.chumashlanguage.com

Tomol Crossing
If there was ever a clear illustration that culture is alive and strong within the Chumash people, it was during the recent tomol crossing of the Santa Barbara Channel.

On Saturday, August 26, 2006, a group of descendents from various Chumash nations embarked upon a tomol channel crossing for a sacred site gathering and a time for celebration.

Reginald Pagaling, a tribal elder from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, represented our band as a member of the main crew in this exciting venture. It was the fourth crossing for Pagaling and his fellow crew members from the Santa Barbara Chumash Maritime Association and only the fourth time in the past 150 years that Chumash people have crossed the channel in a tomol.

The group left from the Channel Island Harbor in Oxnard in the early morning hours on August 26 and arrived in Scorpion Bay on Santa Cruz Island some 11 hours later. The area is known as Limuw, which was the site for the largest Chumash village on the island.

The tomol, a redwood planked boat held together by tar and pine pitch, was used by our ancestors some 2000 years ago for both cultural and commercial purposes.

Click here to see photos of the crossing. Click here to read a first-hand account of last year's Tomol crossing from Reggie Pagaling.

Pow Wow
Although pow wows weren’t traditionally part of the Chumash culture, we did perform and dance throughout history and we always recognized other tribes’ traditions. That’s why we began hosting pow wows.

This year's Pow Wow is Saturday, October 4, from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. and Sunday, October 5, from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. To view photographs of a past year's Pow Wow, click here. 

Our Pow Wow has featured drummers from the U.S. and Canada, a variety of foods and beautiful hand-made Native crafts. We provide the community with both an educational and cultural experience that focuses on Native American music, arts and customs.

At our 2003 Pow Wow, life-long Santa Ynez Chumash reservation resident Nakia Lent was tapped to be our Head Woman Dancer. It was the first time that the Chumash tribe had one of our own as part of the head staff at our pow wow.

Daughter of a Chumash mother and Comanche father, Nakia has been dancing at pow wows since she could walk. The role of Head Woman Dancer is an honor that Nakia cherished. “I was very excited that my first time out as a Head Woman Dancer was for my own tribe,” she said. “I danced for my ancestors and I knew that the creator was watching over me.”

In addition to providing an exciting and rewarding experience for those attending the Pow Wow, our goal in producing this inspiring event is to promote self-reliance and pride in Native Americans by honoring our traditions and culture.